memory_alphafandomcom-20200223-history
Paradise Lost (episode)
While Starfleet tightens security measures on Earth, Sisko and Odo discover that Admiral Leyton is deviously plotting to take over the planet. (Part 2 of 2) Summary A state of emergency has been declared on Earth, and armed Starfleet security officers are on the streets. But the activities of an elite cadre of Academy cadets on the night of the power outage arouse Sisko’s suspicions. He and Odo investigate, and learn that the sabotage was caused not by Changelings but by Red Squad under orders from Admiral Leyton, whose goal is to oust the President and take over Earth to fortify it against the Dominion. And Leyton is willing to do anything — even order one Starfleet ship to destroy another — to carry out his plans. Teaser As Captain Benjamin Sisko and Constable Odo try to work out how the Changelings could have caused the failure of the Global power grid, their investigation seems to be creating more questions than it answers. Sisko finds it hard to believe that they managed to infiltrate the Division of Planetary Operations, how did they gain access to the codes for the control computer and just how did they manage to shut down every energy relay on Earth at the same time? Odo seems to have found a missing piece to the puzzle however. There are transporter logs showing that a group of cadets known as Red Squad were beamed into Starfleet Headquarters shortly after the state of emergency had been called. Why, when Starfleet was mobilising so many troops, would Red Squad be recalled? Odo hypothesizes that, as they are only Cadets, it may have been for their own safety but Sisko remains unsure. A number of hours after Red Squad were recalled, Starfleet Command gave a order that all Cadets would be placed on active duty. At Sisko's restaurant in New Orleans, Jake and Joseph Sisko (Jake's grandfather) are preparing to open the restaurant for the first time since the power outage four days ago. Jake is confused and tells his grandfather that he doubts there will be any customers after all, there is barely anybody on the streets. Joseph knows better however. The streets all full of Starfleet security officers who haven't had a proper meal for four days. In the meantime, Sisko has opened a comm channel with the Academy Commandant to discuss the activities of Red Squad. The Commandant is rather surprised to find that there are transport logs of Red Squads activities and orders Sisko to delete the logs. Thanking Sisko for saving him from a lot of trouble, especially as Admiral Leyton doesn't know about the log, the Commandant closes the channel. Once again, as Odo points out, there are now more questions than answers. Act 1 The scene opens with Joseph Sisko freely submitting to his blood test. Benjamin Sisko is still not pleased and remains, by his own admission, paranoid. Nog interrupts the conversation before they can talk any further. Sisko is looking for more information about Red Squad and naturally, the best person to turn to is a cadet. Even better for Sisko is that he knows a Ferengi cadet because as Nog says, keeping a secret from a Ferengi is no easy task. Sisko tells Nog he would like to 'get to know' some members of Red Squad but Nog says that the names of Red Squad members are kept secret. Not about to be stopped by a trivial thing such as this, Sisko uses his rank and orders Nog to tell him the name of one of the members. Clearly Nog follows the order, as a cadet (Cadet Shepard) enters Sisko's office. When Sisko presents the transporter logs showing the strange activities of Red Squad on the night of the power outage, Shepard says that he was informed that there would be no record of the 'mission' by their commanding officer, who Shepard cannot name. Attempting to intimidate Shepard gets Sisko nowhere fast. Sisko claims that Red Squad's work was "sloppy" but Shepard maintains that the mission went better than planned - even easier than in the simulated trail runs. However, Sisko's persistance eventually pays off and results in Shepard explaining the whole plan including how the Global power grid was brought offline by a self-replicating computer virus which spread from system to system. Sometime later, Sisko and Odo enter Sisko's discussing Shepard's story. Odo asks if there is any doubt as to whether Shepard was telling the truth but as Sisko points out, he has admitted to commiting treasonous acts against the Federation. If he was lying, he would have surely come up with a better story. The possibility that he was a Changeling has been ruled out as Sisko carried out a blood test on Shepard personally but, as Odo says, this doesn't mean that his commanding officer hasn't been replaced by a Changeling. Doubting this to be true as well, Sisko wonders why the Changelings would have gone to all the trouble of shutting off the power systems without following up with a planetary invasion. With the power relays now back online, the whole effort was wasted, especially now that the streets are full of Starfleet security officers. This can only mean one thing : that Starfleet officers ordered the power systems to be sabotaged in an act of treason against the very institution they should be protecting. :"These people aren’t evil, Odo." (Sisko) He knows these people personally - in some cases has even worked alongside them and considers them friends. How could he possibly turn against them? But of course, it is they who have turned against the Federation : :"... you won’t be turning against them… they’ll have turned against you.” (Odo) Act 2 Odo and Sisko pay the President of the Federation another visit to attempt to convince him that Leyton was behind the recent power outage. The President is naturally very reluctant to believe that a Starfleet officer would try to overthrow the very government they are tasked with protecting. Attempting to back up their claims, Odo explains how the new security measures didn't go far enough as far as Leyton and his accompilices were concerned. They wanted more and in order to get it they were prepared to shut down the global power distribution system to prove just how easily the Earth could be rendered defenseless. President Jaresh-Inyo agrees that the story sounds logical but that there is no proof to back it up. Sisko suggests that Inyo orders Leyton to recall the security officers knowing that Leyton would never agree even if that meant disobeying a direct order from a superior. Inyo says that even if he wanted to give the order, he couldn't. The population in general supports the new security measures. If the President gave the order to recall the officers, he would be going against the will of the people playing directly into Leyton's hands. They only way to resolve the situation is for Odo and Sisko to bring proof of their claims to Inyo. Memorable Quotes "What if I were to tell you that there are only four Changelings on this ''entire planet. Not counting Constable Odo, of course. Think of it - just four of us, and look at the havoc we've wrought."'' "How do I know that you're telling me the truth?" "Oh, four is more than enough. We're smarter than solids. We're better than you. And most importantly, ''we do not fear you the way you fear us. In the end, it's your fear that will destroy you."'' : - O'Brien Changeling, Sisko Background Information * The events of this episode (a Starfleet admiral attempting a military coup) are similar to the plot of Pocket TOS: Dreadnought!, a novel by Diane Carey, written about a decade prior to DS9’s production. * The title of this episode, much like the graffitti on the entrance to Paradise City, both take their name from a 17th Century poem written by the English poet, John Milton. * This is the last episode to be directed by Reza Badiyi. * René Echevarria, via the Deep Space Nine Companion, describes the episode as “an attempt to make the audience complicit in believing that a threat is imminent, and that by any means necessary it must be dealt with… Martial law — yes! Clamp down on rights — yes! Blood tests — yes! No civil rights — yes! And then in Part II we find out that the real point of the story is how dangerous this feeling is.” *The names of the former members of the Okinawa are all named after characters from Joseph Heller's famous novel ''Catch 22''. Links and References Guest Stars * Robert Foxworth as Admiral Leyton * Herschel Sparber as Jaresh-Inyo * Susan Gibney as Erika Benteen * Aron Eisenberg as Nog * David Drew Gallagher as Riley Aldrin Shepard * Brock Peters as Joseph Sisko Co-Stars * Mina Badie as Security officer * Rudolph Willrich as Bolian Starfleet Academy Commandant * Bobby C. King as Security chief References Ablative armor; Bartlett; blood screening; Bolian tonic water; Daneeka; ''Defiant'', USS; Division of Planetary Operations; Excelsior class; Federation President; Federation-Tzenkethi War; ''Lakota'', USS; Global Security Net; Lisbon; McWatt; Mignaccia, G.; Moodus; Moore, B.; New Orleans; ''Okinawa'', USS; Orr; Pacific Standard Time; Pandora's Box; Paris; Ramsey (Crewman); Red Squad; Sisko's; Snowden; treason Category:DS9 episodes de:Das verlorene Paradies nl:Paradise Lost